Fast Food Workers 'Strike' In San Antonio

2 years ago

San Antonio fast food workers staged their first strike today in support of a $15 minimum wage in the fast food industry, 1200 WOAI news reports.

Kim Marshall was walking the picket line at the McDonalds at Broadway and Loop 410. She says she has worked at Mickey D's for a year and a half...and $7.25 an hour is definitely not enough for what she does.

"They think we just stand at the register and say, 'may I take your order'." she said. "In reality we do a lot more than that. We have to clean up after people, we have to go into the stalls.

She and the other protesters said that working at a fast food establishment should pay a living wage, which in San Antonio, they say, is $15 an hour.

"There are weekends when I'm not even sure I can take my kids because I'm not sure there will be food in the fridge," Whataburger employee LaKiesha Harris said.

This wasn't a traditional 'strike' in that if you pulled into a McDonalds today, you still got served. But several workers were walking an 'informational' picket line at that one establishment.

'Strikes' were held in thirty cities today, as the issue of low wages for many jobs in the service industry, combined with the sky high salaries paid to the company CEOs has quickly become a key issue in American politics.

"We respect everyone's right to voice an opinion," McDonald's said in a statement. "McDonald's respects our employees' right to voice their opinions and to protect lawfully and peacefully. Our restaurants remain open today and every day, thanks to the dedicated employees serving our customers."